Economic Observer Network NewsAccording to the Supreme People's Court, on December 11, the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the All-China Women's Federation jointly held a press conference on the governance of high bride prices. Chen Yifang, president of the First Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court, said that the Supreme People's Court will solicit opinions from the public on the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Cases Involving Bride Prices", which emphasizes the principle of prohibiting the use of marriage to solicit property in the name of bride price, and regulates the scope of the bride price, the conditions for return, and the determination of the parties, so as to further unify the adjudication standards and better respond to the new requirements and expectations of the people.
In recent years, the amount of bride price has continued to rise, and some people ignore the family's economic situation and blindly regard the bride price as a measure of loveSome people think that the more the bride price, the more they appear to have face, and the wind of comparison quietly spreads. This not only deviates from the original intention of the bride price, but also lays a hidden danger to the stability of the marriage, which is not conducive to the promotion of social civilization and customs. Chen Yifang said that from the perspective of judicial practice, the number of cases involving bride price disputes has been on the rise in recent years, and there have even been vicious criminal cases caused by the return of bride price. A high bride price is not the secret to ensuring family happiness, but may become the fuse of contradictions and disputes, which is not only not conducive to the establishment and long-term stability of marital relations, but also easy to cause confrontation, contradictions and conflicts between two families, affecting social harmony and stability.
Chen Yifang introduced that regarding the conditions for the return of the bride price, the "Interpretation (1) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China on Marriage and Family" stipulates three types of returnable circumstances, including: failure to go through marriage registration, marriage registration has been completed but not living together, and the payment of the bride price causes the payer to have difficulties in life. However, in real life, there are a large number of cases in which the marriage is held in accordance with local Xi customs without marriage registration and lives together, and the marriage registration is completed but the life together is short, and the above-mentioned judicial interpretation cannot be applied, and whether and how to return the bride price has become difficult.
Chen Yifang said that there are three principles in dealing with disputes involving bride price: First, the basic principle of prohibiting the extortion of property through marriage is clearly prohibited;The second is to fully respect folk Xi and reasonably determine the scope of bride price on the basis of the general recognition of the local people;The third is to adhere to the problem-oriented, give full consideration to the purposeful characteristics of the bride price, and consider the proportion of different factors such as living together, marriage registration, and childbearing in the realization of the fundamental purpose of marriage, so as to reasonably balance the rights and interests of both parties.